Having grown up with the radio show, read the book at an early age, and then seen the BBC television series, I was interested to see what they would do with the feature film. Well, this movie version of Hitchkikers Guide to the Galaxy is sort of a mixed bag.
The film certainly romps along quite merrily, and there are plenty of strange characters, improbable, silly situations, and some spectacularly expensive special effects sequences. The producers have also largely kept Douglas Adam's legacy pretty much intact. But its greatest fault is that it simply doesn't live up to the reputation that preceded it.
The film also suffers the problem of familiarity. Those viewers who have not read the book, or are not in some way familiar with the story, will probably be scratching their heads in bewonderment at the torrent of talk, much of it of an oblique and scientific nature, and all of it delivered with a parched, dry, and insouciant British wit.
The film is narrated by the guide book of the title (the voice of Stephen Fry), so director Garth Jennings can interject passages of Adams' text, accompanied by amusing animation, into the plot's intergalactic shenanigans. This actually works pretty well, and it doesn't swamp and slow-down the pacing of the main story.
One morning, Englishman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up to find that his farmhouse in rural England is about to be bulldozed for a freeway. Up pops his pal Ford Prefect (Mos Def) to tell him to forget about it. Ford confesses that he is actually an alien, and he tells Arthur that his house doesn't matter anymore because Earth itself is about to be demolished by the Vogons of the planet Vogsphere to make way for an inter-space expressway.
Just as the planet is about to explode, Arthur and Ford transport themselves onto a Vogon spacecraft. The two escape only to have to plead for their lives with the commander of the Vogon Constructor Fleet (voice of Richard Griffiths), a gigantic rhinoceros-like creature in whom Arthur discerns a poetic soul and a longing for love. This is the first of many tests and narrow escapes.
Arthur and Ford are rescued from the Vogons by president of the galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), Earth's only other survivor, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), and their maniacally depressed android, Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman). Madcap adventures ensure as this mis-matched group of outlaws wonder the galaxy, trying to escape from the Vogon army.
But the group is also given a mission; they have to find "the meaning of life, the universe and everything," a search that takes them to a variety of different exotic planets. Some of the best of the British A-list actors fill the minor roles and voice-overs, particularly Bill Nighy as a planetary architect, Helen Mirren as the voice of Deep Thought, a supercomputer whose task is to compute the meaning of life, Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, the terminally depressed robot, and John Malkovich as a shrewd, half-bodied religious leader.
Rockwell is extravagantly narcissistic as two-headed Zaphod. Only Def is poorly cast; he just seems too small and inexperienced to play the dashing Ford. The brightest presence is the always-fresh Zooey Deschanel, who has a light touch otherwise absent.
The film is goofy and silly, and for the novice viewer probably totally mystifying. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is sometimes audacious in its metaphysics, along with its attitudes towards religion, politics, and life.
The consummate geeks will probably love it, and the loyal fans of the books in the series, will be left feeling mostly pleased with the outcome, even though it doesn't quite measure up to the original sacred text. The makers of "Hitchhiker's Guide" don't quite get it right, but they don't exactly miss either. Mike Leonard September 05.
The film certainly romps along quite merrily, and there are plenty of strange characters, improbable, silly situations, and some spectacularly expensive special effects sequences. The producers have also largely kept Douglas Adam's legacy pretty much intact. But its greatest fault is that it simply doesn't live up to the reputation that preceded it.
The film also suffers the problem of familiarity. Those viewers who have not read the book, or are not in some way familiar with the story, will probably be scratching their heads in bewonderment at the torrent of talk, much of it of an oblique and scientific nature, and all of it delivered with a parched, dry, and insouciant British wit.
The film is narrated by the guide book of the title (the voice of Stephen Fry), so director Garth Jennings can interject passages of Adams' text, accompanied by amusing animation, into the plot's intergalactic shenanigans. This actually works pretty well, and it doesn't swamp and slow-down the pacing of the main story.
One morning, Englishman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up to find that his farmhouse in rural England is about to be bulldozed for a freeway. Up pops his pal Ford Prefect (Mos Def) to tell him to forget about it. Ford confesses that he is actually an alien, and he tells Arthur that his house doesn't matter anymore because Earth itself is about to be demolished by the Vogons of the planet Vogsphere to make way for an inter-space expressway.
Just as the planet is about to explode, Arthur and Ford transport themselves onto a Vogon spacecraft. The two escape only to have to plead for their lives with the commander of the Vogon Constructor Fleet (voice of Richard Griffiths), a gigantic rhinoceros-like creature in whom Arthur discerns a poetic soul and a longing for love. This is the first of many tests and narrow escapes.
Arthur and Ford are rescued from the Vogons by president of the galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), Earth's only other survivor, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), and their maniacally depressed android, Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman). Madcap adventures ensure as this mis-matched group of outlaws wonder the galaxy, trying to escape from the Vogon army.
But the group is also given a mission; they have to find "the meaning of life, the universe and everything," a search that takes them to a variety of different exotic planets. Some of the best of the British A-list actors fill the minor roles and voice-overs, particularly Bill Nighy as a planetary architect, Helen Mirren as the voice of Deep Thought, a supercomputer whose task is to compute the meaning of life, Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, the terminally depressed robot, and John Malkovich as a shrewd, half-bodied religious leader.
Rockwell is extravagantly narcissistic as two-headed Zaphod. Only Def is poorly cast; he just seems too small and inexperienced to play the dashing Ford. The brightest presence is the always-fresh Zooey Deschanel, who has a light touch otherwise absent.
The film is goofy and silly, and for the novice viewer probably totally mystifying. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is sometimes audacious in its metaphysics, along with its attitudes towards religion, politics, and life.
The consummate geeks will probably love it, and the loyal fans of the books in the series, will be left feeling mostly pleased with the outcome, even though it doesn't quite measure up to the original sacred text. The makers of "Hitchhiker's Guide" don't quite get it right, but they don't exactly miss either. Mike Leonard September 05.